A Perfect Disunion

There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happeneing.

Marshall McLuhan
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The United States of America was founded, among other things, on important documents. One of those is our constitution. The Constitution begins "We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union...."

That document is what binds us together as members of a free and lasting society. Yet over the years, for one reason or another, people have tried to misinterpret, change or even throw out the document. What happened to "the more perfect Union"?

I've lived in this country for 72 years come Saturday and I'm proud to be an American. But I'm not proud of the intolerance, bigotry, bias, prejudice, racism, sexism, antisemitism, islamophobia, homophobia, extremism, fanatical conservatives, fanatical liberals, religious exclusivity, hate crimes, plundering of the poor by the rich, denial of civil rights, litigiousness, selfishness and bellicosity that I see, hear and read about every day. And for the first time in my memory I am frightened by the current events.

The attack on working people from the Governor of Wisconsin and the ignorant state congress that backs him up, similar movements in other states, the Radical Right's insane attack on the whole fabric of American life, the attack on women, on the aged, children and the poor are making a pot of great danger which is about to boil over.

There are serious attempts, and legislation in the works, to reduce or eliminate funds for family planning, health programs for pregnant women and children. With the rise of other nations gaining more economic and political power they would cut funds for education, student loans, fire teachers and force students to amalgamate into extra large classrooms. They would cut funds for NPR because they are too cowardly to hear opposing points of view. They would take away funds for the protection of the environment. Meanwhile they continue to protect the tax advantages for the super rich.

It is obvious at last that our congress people, many of them, perhaps most of them, are owned by great wealth, large corporations and powerful special interests. These ideas could not be coming from considerate men and women. The lame answer they give is to "balance the budget." But they are looking for the money where it isn't instead of where it is.

I am not a wealthy man. In all of my 72 years I have never been wealthy, But I have seen more examples than I care to remember of people being victimized by the stupidity of the rich.

People want to "take back the country" but only in their own vision of it. The vision is in The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution. I look for compassion, understanding and friendship among Americans. "a more perfect Union." But as long as there is this civil war going on between Conservatives and the rest of us, between the super rich and the rest of us, between those who are not willing to contemplate what's happening and the rest of us, there will be no perfect Union.

The rest of us must win.

DB
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